Toy vehicle playsets have become an extremely popular category of toy products and, notsurprisingly, this popularity has prompted practitioners in the art to create and fabricate a wide variety of toy vehicle playsets. Accordingly, vehicle playsets have been provided which employ a variety of track configurations which typically define multiple loops and curves and usually provide a smooth trackway having upwardly extending sidewalls for confining and guiding the toy vehicle. While many toy vehicle playsets utilize powered vehicles having small battery-powered motor drives in the toy vehicles, the more prevalent type of toy vehicle playset involves the use of a free-wheeling unpowered toy vehicle operative together with some type of apparatus for imparting energy and velocity to the toy vehicle. Typical types of devices used in accelerating such unpowered toy vehicles upon trackways have included elongated downwardly inclined gravity acceleration ramps, fixed launchers having a spring-driven type of accelerator which, in essence, "catapults" the toy vehicle onto the track as well as conventional rotating wheel booster accelerators which employ a pair of rotating soft foam wheels on each side of the toy vehicle track and which impart acceleration to the vehicle as it passes between the rotating wheels.
Regardless of the type of acceleration device used in such toy vehicle playsets, practitioners in the art have endeavored to provide more interesting and amusing trackways and trackway path devices for the toy vehicle to traverse. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,210 issued to Perrinjaquet sets forth a RACETRACK having an elongated flexible trackway defining a trackway path and rising sidewalls which is downwardly inclined from a table or other raised object to a floor surface and which is supported by a plurality of intermediate telescoping supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,469 issued to Edmisson, et al. sets forth a LOOPED TRACK SYSTEM FOR TOY WHEELED VEHICLES which provides a flexible trackway supported to produce a direction changing vertical loop. The direction changed is approximately ninety degrees in traversing the loop.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,989 issued to Tomiyama sets forth a TRACK DEVICE FOR TOY VEHICLE having a spiral track member defining inner and outer ends to which other track members may be joined to form a track assembly such as a continuous track. The spiral member is axially extensible and mounted upon a support adjacent the inner end of the spiral.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,116 issued to Woodward sets forth a CURVED ACCESSORY USABLE WITH TRACK SYSTEM FOR TOY WHEELED VEHICLES having a flexible trackway and a vertical support which includes a base having a raised support and a pair of lower supports. The trackway is secured to the lower supports on each side and is inverted and attached to the raised support to provide a loop which curves and inverts the toy vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,538 issued to Starr, et al. sets forth TOY VEHICLE TRACK SUPPORT STRUCTURE having a planar base defining a plurality of track attachment devices and a vertical tower. The vertical tower supports a horizontally extending arm having a track attachment at the end thereof. A flexible track passes over each side of the planar base and is secured thereto. The track further rises at its center and inverts forming an inverting loop, the high point of which is secured to the horizontal arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,476 issued to Porter, et al. sets forth a HELICAL TRACK SYSTEM having a helical ramp supported by a quartet of external support posts and having means at the upper and lower ends thereof for attaching to a trackway.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,923 issued to Brigham, et al. sets forth a LOOPED TRAFFIC ACCESSORY having a pair of support bases each secured to opposite ends of a vertical track loop. Each support base further includes an extending tongue for engaging and securing a straight line trackway to interpose the loop within a conventional trackway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,166 issued to Stephens sets forth a COLLAPSIBLE TOY AUTOMOBILE RACE COURSE having a spiral track within an arrangement for biasing the track to act as a spring having a relaxed essentially collapsed position and an extended taut position. A post is provided for holding the track in an extended position so than one end is higher than the other forming a spiral.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,067 issued to Carmo sets forth a COMBINED BALL AND FLEXIBLE TRACK having an extended flexible track secured to supporting handles at each end thereof. A ball is rolled within the track between the two ends and opposing players raise and lower the track ends to roll the ball along the track.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,949 issued to Buck, et al. sets forth a TOY TRACK AND BOWL WITH CAR HEIGHT INDICATOR having a vertically disposed drum defining an entrance aperture coupled to a track ramp. A toy vehicle enters the drum at high speed and rapidly progresses about the drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,157 issued to Lambert sets forth a TOY RACING SET having at least one powered vehicle, a length of flexible track and a carrying case. The carrying unfolds to form a track upon which the vehicle may run. The case many be closed having the flexible track therein to provide a loop-the-loop track for a powered vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,953 issued to Hippely, et al. sets forth a TOY VEHICULAR PLAYSET having a horizontally disposed drum coupled to an entrance ramp and an exit ramp and defining a spiraling transitory path for toy vehicles therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,363 issued to Udagawa sets forth a TRACK TOY having a supporting tower replicating a robot and an encircling spiral track for toy vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,053 issued to Cook, et al. sets forth a MULTI-FUNCTION TOY STUNT SET which may be used to form a loop and ramps for use during play with toy vehicles. Two tower members with engaging grooves are mounted on top of a base and a frame with flexible sheet pieces is positioned between the tower members. A rod at the end of a flexible member may be inserted into grooves in order to form loops and ramps.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,565 issued to Yarashes; U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,626 issued to Tucker; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,505 issued to Tsugawa set forth various toy vehicle type accessories having looped trackways.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided improvement in the art and, in some instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved interesting and entertaining toy vehicle playset accessories and devices.